Rodja's Watermelon White Flood Log

First, I'd like to thank RenegadeRows and the Controlled Labs team for allowing me to log this. I haven't run a supplement log in awhile, but I've had a training log up for about 7 straight months. In that time, my strength has exploded to levels I've never even approached. This is partially due to being finished with school and working at home and also from lifting off and on with powerlifters.

I did yesterday's session about 2 hours before the WF made it to my doorstep (UPS takes forever to deliver here), so I won't have a real session with it until Thursday when I go do Deadlifts and BJJ in the evening.

Starting Stats:
5'10"
208 lbs
~12-13%

My diet got a little too relaxed lately (I have to quit hanging out with so many powerlifters), but I was getting far too bloated and my belt was getting snug. However, I will still have some cheat meals throughout the week (probably the day before squats and deads for the extra bloat/cushion) as I am pretty damn sure that the extra calories, despite not being overly clean, have been a factor in my strength growth.

Well, I was severely disappointed in this session, but it all started last night when I, somehow, managed to tweak my lower back during...*ahem*...intimate time with the wife. I had no burst and was in a lot of discomfort. I tried to shake it off and go for it anyway, but it just wasn't in the cards. I regrouped and hammered out my assistance work and it went really well. Good pump in the thighs, which isn't normal, and I was able to really focus in on the arch during the GMs.

Initial Impressions:
Taste is excellent; not chemically or unpleasant at all
Mixes very well
Good energy off of just 1 scoop (I wanted to assess efficacy and start low)
Increased sweat and pump

I'll be using 1.5 scoops tomorrow as it didn't have enough kick for my liking. It still provided some good energy, but I need a bit more these days with the extra conditioning and BJJ.

I moved my bench session to a day earlier because I'm moving this weekend. The actual benching was more about getting the groove and really popping my elbows out after I push the weight off my chest. Now, after that, the WF started to really kick-in. I usually don't get into these sessions too much because I'm not driving out huge weights, but I was all kinds of fired up starting with the second round of pullups (BTW, everyone should do pullups between sets of pressing). I was sweating my ass off, grooving to my training playlist, and got an epic pump again, especially in the traps and delts. So far, I really like what I'm feeling from this. The old version gave me about the same level of energy, but the focus on this one is more intense for me.

I moved my bench session to a day earlier because I'm moving this weekend. The actual benching was more about getting the groove and really popping my elbows out after I push the weight off my chest. Now, after that, the WF started to really kick-in. I usually don't get into these sessions too much because I'm not driving out huge weights, but I was all kinds of fired up starting with the second round of pullups (BTW, everyone should do pullups between sets of pressing). I was sweating my ass off, grooving to my training playlist, and got an epic pump again, especially in the traps and delts. So far, I really like what I'm feeling from this. The old version gave me about the same level of energy, but the focus on this one is more intense for me.

this new version gave better pumps for me than the original, but i definately agree about the focus. glad you are liking taste of the watermelon, i am thinking of getting some-didn't really like the taste of lemonade, at all.

Wow...this day took everything out of me. The squats were a nice technique session, but the box squats were awesome. The band tension at the top was somewhere 180lbs for about 405 total lbs. As a result, I really had to keep EVERYTHING tight and explode off of the box. Well, I was really able to do so and my technique was smooth with the initial burst coming from my glutes and hips.

I did the Prowler session about an hour later after having to run a quick errand and getting caught in some traffic. My hams started to tighten up, but I was actually accompanied this session and he kept me going. Towards the end, I felt as though I was starting to overheat (I was outside in TX heat at about 4PM), but I finished the last 2 sprints. I got a nasty case of Prowler flu afterward and it took me about 30 minutes to come back to Earth.

Care to share some tips to how you plan your sessions and pick what and when you decide to add box squats, me work, de work, and progressive work?

The box squats have been added lately to focus more on my power. I've never been great at explosive movements and I've been adding these in lately to work on this. The dynamic effort is one of the things that has been lost over the years, but I enjoy doing them. ME work is a little more difficult to say as I really do it by feel on that day and how my lifts felt the previous week. Also, I take into account the quality of my nutrition and sleep over the previous few days. If both of these are lacking, then I generally will go for a technique day along with some moderate assistance work. One of the major things that I have changed over the past 18 months or so is my rep range on the assistance exercises. I used to keep everything in the 6-10 range, but I've expanded that to 8-15. This has helped to add some extra LBM and it also takes less of a toll on the joints and connective tissues.

My progression is really hard to explain as part of my major jump in strength has been due to improved technique in all the major lifts. As far as overall powerlifting goes, I am still a novice and am constantly improving and learning with each session.

Energy was through the roof during this session. In fact, I had to deliberately slow myself down to allow my body to adequately recover between sets because I was flying through everything. The PR on the Push-Press was the heaviest weight that I have ever lifted, but I had a higher equivalency last week with a 205x5 effort. However, the dips was the most reps that I have done at both this weight and attached weight. I usually bang out somewhere between 7-10 reps with 12 on a good day, but I hit a nice groove on this and kept pumping them out. Speaking of pumps, the dips gave me a huge one throughout my chest, delts, and tris.

So far, I'm enjoying this run and I'll be fully rested for next week's training after this weekend.

I was dead set on going a full ME on this day and that's what I did. Warming-up was smooth until I went up to 405 and then the reps slowed down a bit, but still didn't have a hitch in the movement. 425 was a little tougher, but it came out without any real strain. 455, however, is when things went a little awry. In hindsight, this was my true ME for this day since I had to really fight it the first 6", which is my sticking point on the lift. If I can get it just past that, then I can complete the rep. I put more weight on the bar to try to set a 5lb PR (PR is 475, which was set a few weeks ago). However, I couldn't even budge the damn bar on either of my attempts and I really had to stretch out the kinks that I got in my hip flexors and lumbar from the day. All-in-all, it was a decent session as it was just the 2nd time that I have pulled 455.

Energy was really good and I usually never get a sweat during these kinds of sessions, but I was quite drenched. I kept having to re-chalk my hands because I was sweating s much from my palms and forearms.

A bit of a maiden voyage on this session as I haven't done much training with boards. I was amped up despite training at 9AM for the probably the 3rd time in a decade and was definitely in a much better mood than I should have been considering the time and how little food I had in me. I didn't want to stop training, but my coach told me I was done and I am in no position to argue with a pro about when I should stop for the day. Plus, I'm still working out a few kinks in my technique (mainly the drift and speed of my descent), so it was probably for the best. The Dizenzo rows left a gnarly tightness along my lower lats, specifically the medial area, that I had to roll out immediately after I was done training.

Great, great session. I was completely focused and ready to go for this session, but there was a small hitch: I had so much bloat from the weekend that I couldn't get my belt to the appropriate notch. I struggled to get it there and it really restricted my breathing. On my final set of squats, I really ran out of air more than anything as I know I had at least 1, if not 2-3, left in me, but I shattered my old PR and surpassed my goal for the day. Regardless, it was a win. I loosened the belt for the rest of the work and went on with the plan. I've really focused on my Goof Morning technique and decided to go heavy to see where I was and I did far greater than I expected. I've been so focused on setting bigger numbers that I've lost sight of my assistance work for a bit, which is the thing that really leads to strength increases.

Tomorrow, I will be switching gears a bit and adding in more dynamic work for Bench Press to my Push-Press sessions to work on my power.

1. Stand in front of a lat pulldown
2. Use the wide grip handle
3. Arch your upper back and squeeze your shoulder blades together exactly the same way you would on the bench
4. Pull the bar down and touch where you do when you bench

I think this really helps you to learn how to use your lats when you bench. At the very least, it pumps up your rear delts and lats.

I wasn't able to throw in the banded BP into this, but I still had a great session. I'm working off the bloat from the weekend still, but it's much less than it was on Tuesday when I could barely get my belt to the right notch. After doing Push-Press for about 3 months now, I'm switching back to just Overhead Presses to really focus on my shoulder strength and to lighten some of the wear and tear on my wrists, which are getting pretty bad now. I was hoping to get 7 on them and I easily got 10 and could have pushed out more, but it's still early and I'd rather pull it in a bit than overextend right now.

Im still amazed by your rowing strength. So where were gonna add the de bench work? bc ive been thinking about doing that myself.

It's going to be during the OHP days. I'm going to talk to my coaches about where I should place it within the day, though.

Originally Posted by mattrag

In to follow your crazy workouts. 315 X12 for bent over rows?!

I've always been able to row big amounts of weight for some reason. Most people think that you need to have immaculate form during most lifts, but it's not true. Often times, you actually sabotage your strength efforts by being too anal about form.

I went out to my friends gym about 45 minutes away to do some new things. First experience with both banded pulls and Reverse Hypers, which absolutely ****ing hurt. My thighs have been getting a bit tight, so I went with traditional stance instead of my normal sumo stance. At the top, the bands added around 140 lbs of tension with about 60 lbs or so at the bottom. My deads have hit a bit of a snag the last month or so after hitting my PR, so I'm making some adjustments and making some changes to my routine and the assistance lifts. The bands really focus me to work on my explosion off the floor, which is my weak area, and I'm going to only pull heavy every other week with either deficit pulls or band pulls used between the heavy sessions. I know my CNS is getting beat to hell and I need to be smart about pulling back over the next few weeks.

Another bitchin' session. I was able to really warm-up and loosen my shoulders since the group on this day was really small and one guy was running late. Typical for me, I managed to set/tie 2 major PRs and then do something incredibly stupid: on the pressdowns, I lost my grip and the V-Handle came flying up and I chipped a tooth in the process. Not a major chip, but I still felt like a dumbass regardless.

I got the chance to go squat with my team, which I usually don't get to do. 6 months ago, I was struggling to break 315 and I made 405 my goal for a year from then. At the time, I thought it was a lofty goal, but I set high expectations to keep me driven. Apparently, I severely underestimated myself and what I am capable of accomplishing. The session started out kinda meh; my right groin was tight and I was struggling a bit to adapt to the monolift. However, I go my thighs and hips loosened up and knew it was time to try the long awaited 4 plates. I chalked up, wrapped up my wrists, threw on my belt, and took a huge hit of Nose Tork (it smells like cat piss). Getting under the bar, I was slightly nervous, but I had spotters and the catching straps. I lifted the bar out of the hooks, the mono was moved, I took big air, and started my descent. I heard my coach yelling out, "Back! Back! Back! UP!! UP!!" and, before I knew it, I had just squatted 410. In less than 6 months, I've added 105 lbs to my squat. Next up: 455 by the end of the year.

Great, great, great session. I took a few months off of straight OHP and it's paying huge dividends. My conditioning is a bit off right now because I find myself having to slow down a bit because my HR gets a bit too high, but that can easily be corrected and adjusted. I do NOT attribute it to the WF as this only happens during the accessory work and when I'm supersetting.

Getting to the end of the tub; I probably have another 4-6 sessions left. Deads was more or less a deload session as I've hit a bit of a plateau lately. Plus, I really hit a major PR on squats and I know the CNS could use a break. I decided to do a lot of reverse band work for bench to get the feeling of having extra weight in my hands and maintaining technique as the weight gets heavier. My results so far have been mixed in that area.